I would get one, but I if I were to get dead pixels I'd be pretty peeved about it.

You have good reason for concern. However, think about how small the pixels in a high res monitor are. You also need to consider that more than 5 dead ones, or ANY in the center area is a failure by the standards of even these Korean sellers. I've not yet read about any being received by anyone where they've been outside of this. I've read about some with 1 dead pixel or dust behind the glass, but not by any excessive amount and not to the point they were unhappy about it.

Basically, even if i get 1 dead pixel, i'd probably struggle to see it in general usage. 3-4 might annoy me slightly, but not enough to send it back or complain. In some cases, massaging the area near it can fix it. A stuck pixel would annoy me more than a dead pixel, but not enough to say i'd hate them for sending me a monitor at that price.

I probably would never buy a monitor with-out a pixel perfect guarantee and I don't know too many sellers that do. I recommend to everyone here only buy reputable brands such as Yamakasi Catleap and Crossover if you're going to get a korean brand and bust out the extra hundred bucks to get those brands. Pixel Perfect editions cost anywhere from $20-50 more.

I bought my monitor from this seller. (go to ebay.com and search this 271046518174)

If you don't mind taking risks he sells cheaper ones without a guarantee, and this guy without a doubt is the best seller I've ever met, his communication is fast and excellent he provides american adapters and also sells HDMI models and built in speaker models of the monitor also expedited EMS shipping 3-5 days usually. I'm not trying to pitch for this guy but I can show you my conversation logs he's a reliable seller and I wouldn't go with any random on ebay.

I bought my monitor from this seller. (go to ebay.com and search this 271046518174)

After import taxes that would cost about the same as Dell Ultrasharp, so it's kinda pointless. But proves my point that it's not really cheap buying Korean monitors unless you want to roll the dice with absolute cheapest model.

Never going to log into this garbage forum again as long as calling obvious troll obvious troll is the easiest way to get banned.
Trolling should be.

Sitting with a Dell U2711 in front of me I can definitely say that the upgrade from 1080p is worth it. There is only one negative aspect of this higher resolution; you will experience a lower framerate comparing 1440p rendering to 1080p in most games.

As for the Korean monitors that have been heavily discussed for well over a year, I simply have no input as I haven't researched them personally. I'll still share some input based on what I've heard and some personal experience.

They are built using good panels from (mostly) LG Display - the very same panels that are found in, for example, the Apple Cinema Display and the Dell U2711 (as others have mentioned). Do note that the ACD panel and the U2711 panel are rumoured to come from different assembly lines which is made apparent by the different model numbers (LM270WQ1-SDA2 and LM270WQ2-SLA1). However, when it comes to the Korean monitors there's not only the issue of the panels failing a certain standard that is set by whomever ordered the batch (e.g. Apple, Dell), these panels can also suffer from poor assembly which is something I think everyone considering one of these monitors should take into consideration. Ask yourself the question: what does poor assembly really mean for the end product as well as the production process?

I read a thread some time ago where these monitors where discussed. Can't seem to find it, but the jist was that the OP had received a monitor where the panel had been wrongfully installed (or at least that's what he claimed) causing permanent artefacts - most likely caused by dust particles - to appear between the protective film and the panel itself. I'm not sure if this has been fixed since, but I vaguely remember others having a similar problem. In facilities where electronics like monitors, processors, HDDs and the alike are produced there is usually a very strict standard to prevent any particles from messing up the batch. One can only assume the facilities and work conditions where dust is so freely let into production that it causes a major flaw in the end product.

I don't know which factory produces these, but I'm fairly certain that the factory has lower set standards compared to the factory that produces the U2711 or the ACD. As I deal a lot with Chinese manufacturers through work I know that there is a huge difference between a good and a bad factory (or rather, manufacturing process - these facilities are huge). Just two weeks ago I received a sample product produced in a factory that we have never collaborated with and it was utter junk, failing basically every single point we had originally set out. My point here is that there is a big difference between assembly line and assembly line and this vastly impacts the end product. If something costs way less, you can ensure that it is made in a less than optimal environment.

You could delve a lot further into this and research how the workers are treated, what parts are used and where the manufacturer receives these, how well the workplace is laid out, and so on, but I won't because it touches a sensible topic. I guess what I'm trying to say is that not everything regarding these products is a low price and an all-right product - there's more to it.

The above obviously doesn't make the monitors a bad per say, I just think one should take it into consideration before purchasing. If you buy a plagiarism of a product that is almost 1/4th of the original price you should ask yourself where the money ends up and if they are actually produced in a proper, humane, environment (compared to the competition that is more expensive).

I might be horribly wrong regarding the above, it's just pure speculation. You could apply the same to almost any manufacturer and product.

You could delve a lot further into this and research how the workers are treated, what parts are used and where the manufacturer receives these, how well the workplace is laid out, and so on, but I won't because it touches a sensible topic. I guess what I'm trying to say is that not everything regarding these products is a low price and an all-right product - there's more to it.

The above obviously doesn't make the monitors a bad per say, I just think one should take it into consideration before purchasing. If you buy a plagiarism of a product that is almost 1/4th of the original price you should ask yourself where the money ends up and if they are actually produced in a proper, humane, environment (compared to the competition that is more expensive).

I might be horribly wrong regarding the above, it's just pure speculation. You could apply the same to almost any manufacturer and product.

Yeah. I completely agree with this. I guess it's really that since even Apple and Foxconn, both absolutely massive in their respective areas, have been accused of bad working conditions in their factories, i can't ever guarantee that laws will be followed with any brand. I'm completely for humane working conditions for everyone, but yeah, with big names being accused of it, it's difficult to warrant lining the pockets of an already-rich and greedy CEO and spending 3-4x more. If i could guarantee a product was made under suitable conditions, then i'd definitely warrant spending the extra.

As for the price difference itself based upon what we actually know, truth is that if this extra £400-500 truly does guarantee post-sale service, then it seems a little excessive to also want to charge another £100 for "optional breakdown warranty" that covers the same period of time as is required by law, moreso when it doesn't actually guarantee the workers have been treat well.

Anyway, my monitor is due for delivery by Fedex on Wednesday by 6PM (though, generally speaking, my deliveries tend to arrive before midday due to being very near to both a large business district, and only being a few miles from the depot's of most major shipping companies). It's currently headed out of Guangzhou in China after being shipped from Busan in South Korea. As i said originally, i'll have plenty of pics. There'll be detailed pics of the package and monitor itself, but i'll also try and show the difference it's made to productivity with screenshots.

Yeah. I completely agree with this. I guess it's really that since even Apple and Foxconn, both absolutely massive in their respective areas, have been accused of bad working conditions in their factories, i can't ever guarantee that laws will be followed with any brand. I'm completely for humane working conditions for everyone, but yeah, with big names being accused of it, it's difficult to warrant lining the pockets of an already-rich and greedy CEO and spending 3-4x more. If i could guarantee a product was made under suitable conditions, then i'd definitely warrant spending the extra.

All of these panels are assembled in the same factory, the difference being that the korean-sold monitors are B grade panels. The assembly of the monitors themselves is no hard task at all. the PCBs are probably outsourced and the manual labor is probably minimal, although the factories they make do the final assembly have questionable working conditions, if employees are present ,chances are that the employees chose to work there. As much as all of us want humane conditions for workers, chances are that a huge lot of workers arent going to have such conditions, because to create jobs for so many people, you need to cut down on the quality of your workplace , and you cant make sure about any factory .

I mean, sure, the catleaps' assembly line is probably abusing around 30 workers.

What about the people making the panels ?

What about the manifacturer of the PCBs?

What about other companies that outsource the same components?

Either way, there's a lot of 'slave'-labor involved in the great majority of products often discussed on these forums.

Also, if monitor is DOA and I have to return it, do I have to pay for shipping? I bet that would be sky high from UK to Korea

There's numerous ebay sellers who can supply these. Just search ebay for any of the brands i mentioned in the original post (Achieva Shimian, Yamakasi, Crossover) and you'll find plenty. Also, i find many of them do require you to pay shipping back if there's a problem but there's reports that they'll repay that if it is indeed a faulty monitor (though i can't personally verify that).

In all fairness, the support you'd get from them couldn't be any worse than what you'd get from OCUK (they're one company i refuse to shop with after the general idea that they'll always find a way to not honor a valid RMA).

So, the monitor just arrived via FedEx 1:30 hours ago (yes, it took a lot of time to write this post and fix in the additional details). It's taken a mere week to get here, and that's with a weekend in between where it was sat in China (it made it from Korea to China before then). As with all my pictures, click for fullsize.

This is how it arrived. I was expecting bubble wrap around the box itself, and was a little concerned. Let me say straight up that it is heavy. It's 10KG, which in itself isn't overly heavy, but it's carrying it in one hand that's awkward (and carrying it with 2 upstairs just feels awkward).

I wasn't quite sure which side was the front. I didn't want to go slicing that side just to be safe. Last thing i wanted was to have to send it back. So, i picked a side at random, and got to work.

As you can see, i got lucky and had sliced open the back. I was still worried that it might have been damaged in transit even with the massive chunks of packing we've come to expect. The manual is all in Korean (i assume) but i'm not the type to read about what i already know

I removed the adapters and cables from the box, and lifted it up. As you can see, there's a nice wad of bubble wrap at the front, along with a note.

I doubt the validity of the note itself, considering the dispatch time. However, regardless, it is truly fantastic to know they are still looking after their customers. Even on such a cheap price, they've truly impressed me so far. Still, what's important is the surface of the screen. Everything up to now has just been time wasting (in a sense). As you can see, my seller was "Dream-Seller". I feel it's important for anyone posting their own experiences to also list the seller. One bad monitor shouldn't disqualify a seller, but i do want people to be sure they're comfortable with the seller they chose.

Messy carpet aside (sidenote; i had a new window fitted 2 days ago which is where most of it is from), you can see that the screen is glossy. It's a simple design, and i actually like how it looks. Just to put some context on it, the glossyness, while usually a hassle, isn't a problem. My previous monitor was almost as glossy but it didn't deal with it as well. I'm not entirely sure how that's possible, but that's how it is.

Now, i promised some resolution comparisons. For the first time ever, you'll get to see what i was dealing with when designing software. Keep in mind that what you see is from VTemp, but i've been working on it again in the past week (hence why there's a lot of components, many which are used only during development and removed before release);
That's what it looks like at 1080p. It works, but it's crowded and there's truly not a massive amount of space to work with in the central area.

Now this... this is what it looks like at 1440p (2560x1440);

Nothing has changed besides which monitor it was on when i took the screenshot. Although text is smaller from perspective, the amount of space i get for everything makes it that much more fantastic.

And as a comparison;

Misc.
None of the buttons on the monitor work, except the power button that's located on the back of the monitor. The front "button" isn't actually a button and doesn't even press down.

The colouring of the monitor itself is cool. Compared to my other 2 screens, hell, compared to every screen i've owned, this one has a cool blue hint to it. It's not a problem though, and i'd say it's a closer representation to white than my other screens.

The power adapter only goes one way. For me, it was with the flat part with an arrow on facing towards the monitor. Usually, you'd have it facing away from the monitor/towards you, but this was the other way around.

There are absolutely NO dead pixels anywhere on the panel. There are no signs of damage or mistreatment.

The stand is secured with 2 included screws and honestly, it's just a stand. It's difficult to comment on the quality, so i'll just say that it does the job perfectly fine.

In NVIDIA Control Panel, the display is just called "Digital". Thankfully, my other displays are listed as Samsung (my TV) and Acer (my other monitor) so telling which is which without needing to use the identify feature isn't a problem.

As an additional note, in "Adjust Desktop Size and Position" in NVIDIA Control Panel, you have the option of "Perform scaling on:". The usual options available in the dropdown are "Display" and "GPU", with "Display" being the default. With this monitor, the only option available is GPU, and so there's no need to fret that it's not supported (to clarify, i run a GTX670 with 310 series drivers, but any modern card should support it).

Also, even though i've connected the monitor to a DVI port with a dual-DVI cable (the one shipped with my acer... my acer is now running at 60hz as i don't find much benefit to 120Hz since it's only used very rarely), this display does apparently support HDCP. It's not an issue for me since all my movies are downloads or through Netflix.

Conclusion
At less than £200 GBP shipped, this monitor will provide a much needed quality of life upgrade for development. I don't need fancy connctivity options, and i despise OSD's. I don't need 120hz, and i don't need a top brand. Don't get me wrong, it's a perfect example of barebones. It comes with the absolute basics, both in accessories and the screen itself.

Speaking of accessories, the power block takes a standard kettle lead, just like what you'd connect your PSU to. The monitor that this one has replaced is 4-5 years old - a 24" 1080p display. It still works, but it had some awful "pixel shadow". It sorta looked like there were iron filings behind the screen and that someone had gone over a portion of it with a magnet, leaving some visible lines on the screen itself. They didn't black out the screen, but if you looked for them specifically, you could see them.

Overall, i'm extremely impressed with both the service and the monitor. It now sits proudly next to my desk, but i may very well move the TV to the side (it's wallmounted and can move about 4ft each direction from the center) and put this on my desk (there's no screen on the desk itself at the moment).

You should still be aware it IS a risky purchase. They may be cheap, but they've got a long way to go which means the chance of damage is a reasonable consideration. I was rather worried mine would arrive damaged, not because of the seller, but again, because of the distance.

I've yet to receive any notification of import duty, but any due should be noted to me within a few days.

EDIT: The working power button is actually at the back, on the right side. It's a strange place, but looks like the front "button" was never actually a button to begin with.

EDIT 2: It appears i've got 1 stuck pixel to the left of center. It's green, but again, very small pixels and absolutely NOT a negative towards the overall value. It might be a negative to some, enough to stop them buying, but it's not something i'm gonna split hairs over.

Nice of you to make such a thorough post on your experience. I'm waiting on my own QH270-lite as we speak while it's running laps in Korea. I bought mine from Red-Cap. I might actually slightly regret not buying from Dream-Seller since his reputation is probably the best out of them all, but i ordered a perfect pixel and will post more when i recieve it!

These monitors are built for Korean net cafes. The ebay sellers actually make a pretty decent profit on it. The manufacturer buys the A- panels from LG and slap in enough electronics into it to make it work. That said though picture quality is quite good and most issues are with backlight bleed. I would get one if I didn't have 30" already. For those buying it don't get the tempered glass models or anything "fancy" as those have much higher rate of defects considering the quality of manufacturing isn't up to par with name-brands.